Garment button



March 1969 8. v. REAGAN, JR, ET AL 3,430,302

GARMENT BUTTON F-ild Nov. 21, 1966 F I6. I

F IG. 2

INVENTOR5 LEONARD O. CEDERWALL JOHN S. NOTCHEV BRUCE V. REAGAN Jr.

F I G. 3

United States Patent Oflice 3,430,302 Patented Mar. 4, 1969 3,430,302 GARMENT BUTTON Bruce V. Reagan, In, La Jolla, John S. Notchev, San

Diego, and Leonard 0. Cederwall, El Cajon, Calif assignors of fifty percent each to Lancea Corporation, San Diego, and Bruce V. Reagan, Jr., La Jolla, Calif. Filed Nov. 21, 1966, Ser. No. 595,774 U.S. Cl. 24-108 Claims Int. Cl. A441 1 34 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A garment button having a tube portion with a washer shaped entrance portion for receiving a stud having a pointed end with a shoulder portion that terminates in a flat radial surface. The shoulder portion has a diameter larger than the opening in said Washer shaped entrance portion, and when the stud is inserted in said tube portion, the radial flat surface abuts against the inside surface of said washer shaped entrance portion. The tube portion and washer shaped entrance portion have a trickness allowing the washer shaped entrance portion to expand outwardly and move' in a radial are so that said shoulder portion and said fiat surface can move through the smaller opening in said washer shaped entrance portion.

The use of sew-on buttons is, of course, well known and the effort and often the expense required to sew buttons on garments are also well known, especially in the garment industry. Even where such buttons are sewn on by machines, the expense of such machines and their operation is large. Also, buttons that have been sewn on present the inherent problem of becoming unsewn; usually at inconvenient times and places in which the wearer is not in a position to resew the button.

Still further, it is often desirable to attach buttons having an ornamental surface that does not readily permit the passage of needle and thread through the button. Such buttons are usuall secured by loops or other attachments to the button. This causes such buttons to project an undesirable distance from the fabric and such projected buttons are often difiicult to keep on the garment and are difiicult to replace when they become detached from the garment. In addition, buttons that are sewn on garments have a tendency to pull on the garment fabric and can thus damage the fabric. So it may be seen that there are many obvious disadvantages in the use of sew-on buttons on garments.

It would thus be advantageous to have a button that is easily and quickly installed on a garment without sewing. This would permit the buttons to be attached to garments either by hand or by machine in a much quicker and easier fashion. It would also allow persons wearing the garments to easily replace a button if the button became detached from the garment at inconvenient times. Further such an easily installed and easily removed button would readily permit the buttons to be removed when desired from the garment during cleaning and laundry operations. The latter is especially advantageous where the buttons are large and interfere with the pressing of the fabric. Such quickly and easily removed buttons would also lend themselves to attaching emblems or the like to garments in an easy and quick fashion. Most emblem buttons known in the art use screw attachments, which screw attachments can damage the fabric or have a tendency to become unscrewed and thus inadvertently lost.

It is not new to provide buttons that do not have to be sewn in place. Garment buttons having male and female units with separable interlocking components are well known. However such known interlocking buttons have many disadvantages. For example, such button constructions are often difficult to install. Further such button constructions when installed, are thereafter diflicult to remove from the garment and those button constructions that are relatively easy to remove are additionally subject to becoming detached from the garment easily and by inadvertence. Other removable non-sewn garment buttons are expensive to make and provide excessive space between the male and female members making such buttons hang loose on the garments.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button that may be easil installed without sewing on a garment and may be removed easily without becoming inadvertently detached.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button that is readily adaptable to mechanized installation of buttons, emblems or the like.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button to which ornaments, emblems or the like may be readily attached.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button to which a fabric covering may be readily secured and replaced.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button that may be readily attached or detached from fabric without damaging the fabric.

It is another object of this invention to provide a new and improved garment button that is easily installed and removed without sewing and that is inexpensive to make and that has a long life.

Our garment button accomplishes the foregoing objects by having a button face backed b a tubular portion that is secured substantially perpendicular thereto. A stud member having a shank with an enlarged head at one end and a pointed end at the other end projects into the tubular portion securing the two parts together. The tubular portion has a continuous ring-shaped reduced diameter end portion at the end opposite the button face for receiving the pointed projection. The pointed projection has a diameter slightly larger than the shank at the point of their junction which enlarged portion forms an outer shoulder. The shoulder portion of the pointed projection and the inner shoulder of the reduced diameter end portion of said tubular portion, co-act to retain the stud in the tubular member upon their being joined. The walls of the tubular portion while being rigid are sufficiently resilient to be flexed inwardly and outwardly allowing the inner edge of the reduced diameter entrance portion to be rotated longitudinally and also radially outward or inward upon being contacted by the pointed end of the stud member allowing the stud member to be inserted or removed from the retained position. The button member and the stud member are both made of plastic having a memory that causes the portions to return to their original condition after being bent or flexed by the insertion or removal of the stud member in the button member. The coefiicient of friction of the material is such as to reduce the friction to a minimum between the members during their flexure.

It may thus be seen that the pointed end of the stud provides an easy entry through a fabric or material and then easy entry into the entrance part of the button which completes the operational assembly of the button. With only a small force, such as the pressure between two fingers, the inner and outer parts can be easily snapped together and retained adequately for normal use as a button. With approximately the same small force the inner and outer parts of the button are separated and removed from the fabric without damage to the button or to the fabric. The button can thus be installed and removed repeatedly without damage. This permits the button to be removed during cleaning or alteration of the fabric to which the buttons are attached. This also permits the buttons to be transferred to other garments or materials.

The face of the button may of course have various shapes and sizes. It may resemble a conventional button or it may have a shape that facilitates attachment to other objects such as conventional buttons, ornaments, emblems and the like. These other objects may be attached to the surface of the button face, which would generally have a concave shape, by adhesives or by other methods. The button of our invention also has a serrated edge portion on the end of the tubular part that presses against and co-acts with the fabric to secure the button and stud together in a manner that will prevent rotation of the button relative to the fabric.

'In a modified button construction the tubular portion adjacent the entrance has an outer shoulder and the button face has a generally convex shape. A sleeve member having a concave face and a tubular member secured thereto is capable of fitting over the outer surface of the tubular member with the end of the tubular member abutting against the outer shoulder. The concave face of the attachment abuts against the inner surface of the face of the button to hold the end of fabric or the like that have been laid over the concave face of the button. This thus permits fabric or the like to be readily covered and secured to the face of the button, which fabric may be selectively removed, changed and cleaned.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a specific embodiment the assembled garment button of our invention.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the garment button of our invention with the button portion shown in cross section.

FIGURE 3 is a side view of a modified button portion of our invention illustrating the coaction of the attachment member with the modified button structure.

Referring now to FIGURES 1 and 2, there is illustrated a button member 14 that may be made of plastic or other suitable resilient materials having a low coefficient of friction and a memory that returns the structure to its original position after being flexed. The plastic button member 14 has a circular face 18 that has a concave \outer surface. A tubular member 16 is integrally secured to the inner surface of the face 18 of the button and is perpendicular thereto. The end of the tubular portion 16 opposite said face 18 has a continuous ring-shaped reduced diameter portion 20 with an internal surface 24. It may be seen that the diameters of the walls of the tubular member 16 have sufficient thickness to maintain the integrity of the tubular portion in normal use and yet the thickness is sufliciently thin to allow the wall portion of member 16 to be flexed inwardly and outwardly as may be necessary to allow the surface 24 of the reduced diameter entrance portion 26 to move inwardly or outwardly permitting entry of the stud member 36.

'The stud member 36 which may also be made of plastic or other suitable material has a shank 35, an enlarged head portion 32, and a pointed end 12. The pointed end '12 at the point of joining shank has an outer diameter slightly larger than the outer diameter of the shank 35 forming a shoulder 34. The outer diameter of the shoulder 34 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular portion 16 of the button 14. Accordingly, in inserting the pointed portion 12 through the entrance into the-tubular portion 16, the surface 24 will rotate inwardly and radially expand until the enlarged portion of the shoulder 34 passes through the entrance, whereupon the inner surface 24 returns to its original position and shoulder 34 4 abuts against shoulder 22. The button member 14 and stud member 36 are then in a retained position.

When in a retained position the button member and stud member form a garment button 10 that is fastened to a fabric 40. The entrance end of the tubular member 16 has a serrated edge 26 for co-acting with the fabric 40 and retaining the button in a given position relative to the fabric 40. It may be understood that the fabric 40 would usually have a sufiicient thickness to -fill the space between the head portion 32 and the serrated end portion 26 in normal installation. To remove the stud member 36 from the tubular member 16, it is merely necessary to grasp the head portion 32 and the button member 14 and pull them apart by rotating the surface 24 outwardly in a longitudinal and radially outward direction.

For decorative purposes a button ornament 30 having any desired face configuration and having a substantially convex surface may fit into the concave face of the button member 14 and be secured thereto by adhesive, tape or the like. The button ornament 30 may also have a substantially flat surface and be secured to the concave face of the button member around the edge the well known manner.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 3, the button member 42 has a substantially solid face member 52 having a convex outer face configuration. The button member 42 also has an outer ring projection 72 forming shoulder surface 60. The modified button member 42 has an internal entrance configuration 46 for receiving the stud member 36 in the manner previously described. A sleeve member 54 having a resiliently flexible face portion 56 and a tubular member 58 is adapted to be slidably moved over the ring portion 72 of the modified button structure 42. The internal diameter 74 of the opening in the face portion 56 of the adapter member 54 is larger than the outer diameter of the ring portion 72. Thus the adapter member 54 can be set upon the shoulder portion 72. The internal diameter of end 60 of the adapter member 54 is smaller than the outer diameter of the ring portion 72 and accordingly the tubular member 58 is resiliently expanded when pressed over the ring member 72. Thus end 60 contracts against the outer diameter of the tubular member and abuts against shoulder 72 as shown. This holds the face portion 56 of the adapter member '54 into frictional contact with the inner face of the button member 42. A suitable fabric 62 is used to cover the convex surface of the face 52 in the well known manner. The face portion 56 thus frictionally fits against the ends of the fabric and secures it to the button structure 42.

The button members 14 and 42 both have a hollow opening in the face for permitting ease of manufacture. However, it should be recognized that the entire face structure of the button members 14 and 42 could be made solid and thus form a button facing in the original construction. This would be in lieu of later adding an ornamental button facing to the button member 14 or a fabric 62 to button member 42.

In operation, the button member 14 or 42 is placed on one side of a fabric with the serrated tubular member placed against the fabric. The pointed end 12 of the stud 36 is thrust through the fabric and into the tubular member wherein shoulder 34 abuts either shoulder 22 or shoulder 48. The garment button is then held in place. To remove the garment button, the stud is pulled from the button member and through the fabric.

In the modification in FIGURE 3, the fabric 62 is cut to size and fitted over the convex face 52 of the button 42. The sleeve member 54 is then pressed over the tubular member and into the retained position as shown in FIGURE 3. The fabric is thus held by the face 56.

While several features and applications of our invention have been disclosed in the specific embodiments, it should be recognized that other possible adaptations and uses of applicants invention are possible by those skilled in the art and applicants wish only to be limited in their invention to that specifically described in the following claims.

Having described our invention what we now claim as our invention is:

1. A garment button comprising in combination,

a button member having a button face backed by a tubular portion secured perpendicular thereto,

a stud member having a shank gwith an enlarged heat at one end and a pointed projection on the other end,

said pointed projection having a diameter slightly larger than said shank at their junction, forming an outer shoulder,

said tubular portion having a continuous ring-shaped reduced diameter entrance portion at the end opposite said face forming an inner shoulder,

the outer dimension of said pointed projection being slightly smaller than the inner diameter of said tubular portion and the inner diameter of said entrance portion being slightly larger than the outer diameter of said shank, I

the walls of said tubular portion being capable of being flexed inwardly and outwardly, allowing said integral circular entrance portion to rotate longitudinally and radially outward upon insertion and removal of said pointed projection of said stud member, and

a sleeve member having a face with an aperture in the center thereof and a tubular member secured perpendicular thereto and in alignment with said aperture for being slidably positioned on the outer surface of said tubular portion,

said end of said tubular portion having an outwardly projecting shoulder means for abutting against the end of said tubular member and forcing said face of said sleeve member against the reverse side of said button face,

the internal diameter of said tubular member adjacent said sleeve member face being greater than the external diameter of said shoulder means,

and the internal diameter of the end of said tubular member being smaller than the external diameter of said shoulder means.

2. A garment button as claimed in claim 1 in which,

said button face has a concave outer surface covered with a fabric,

and the edges of said fabric are held between said face of said sleeve member and the reverse side of said button face.

3. A garment button as claimed in claim 1 in which,

the outer surface of said sleeve member face is concave,

and the inner surface of said button face is flat.

4. A garment button comprising in combination,

a button having a button face backed by a tube portion secured perpendicular thereto and,

a stud member having a shank with an enlarged head at one end and a pointed projection on the other end,

said pointed projection having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of said shank at their junction forming an outer shoulder,

the end of said pointed projection at said junction with said shank having a radially projecting flat surface that is normal to the longitudinal axis of said shank and said pointed projection, said surface terminating at said shoulder,

said tube portion having an integral continuous washershaped entrance portion at the end opposite said face with an opening forming an inner shoulder,

the outer diameter of said outer shoulder being slightly smaller than the inner diameter of said tube portion and the inner diameter of said inner shoulder being slightly larger than the outer diameter of said shank and slightly smaller than the outer diameter of said outer shoulder,

and the walls of said tube portion being capable of being flexed inwardly and outwardly, allowing the inner edge of the opening in said washer shaped entrance portion to rotate longitudinally along said axis and radially outward upon insertion and removal of said pointed projection of said stud member into said tube to a point wherein said flat surface is beyond the inner side surface of said washer-shaped entrance portion.

5. A garment button as claimed in claim 4 in which,

said radially projecting flat surface and said inner side surface of said washer shaped entrance portion are parallel.

6. A garment button as claimed in claim 5 in which,

said end of said tube portion is serrated.

7. A garment button as claimed in claim 4 in which,

the walls of said tube portion and said washer-shaped entrance portion are relatively thin.

8. A garment button as claimed in claim 4 in which,

said button member has a concave surface.

9. A garment button as claimed in claim 8 including,

a button ornament means for being secured to said concave surface.

10. a garment button as claimed in claim 4 including,

a sleeve member having a face with an aperture in the center thereof and a tubular member secured perpendicular thereto and in alignment with said aperture for being slidably positioned on the outer surface of said tubular portion,

said end of said tube portion having an outwardly projecting shoulder means for abutting against the end of said tubular member and forcing said face of said sleeve member against the reverse side of the button face.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 621,831 3/1899 Lee 24105 2,902,735 9/ 1959 Holdsworth 24-105 FOREIGN PATENTS 694,308 9/ 1930 France. 867,888 5/ 1961 Great Britain.

BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner.

E. SIMONSEN, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

